While Mitt Romney was in New York to attend fundraisers for his presidential campaign and the state GOP on July 19, he also spoke at a dinner party for donors and potential donors hosted by Restore Our Future, an independent super PAC which has raised $12 million in large unregulated checks to help boost his candidacy …

A loophole, recently blessed by the Federal Election Commission in an advisory opinion, allows some fundraising help for super PACs—which can accept unlimited checks—by members of Congress and presidential candidates. Both parties are exploiting it.

The FEC in its advisory ruling last month reaffirmed that members of Congress and presidential candidates can attend and speak at events hosted by independent super PACs, but they are personally not allowed to solicit the unlimited funds, only contributions up to $5,000 per year.

My colleague Ken Vogel reached out to Restore Our Future about the event, getting a statement from Charlie Spies, the PAC treasurer and Romney’s 2008 general counsel, saying that Romney hasn’t directly asked for money at events for the group:

Mitt Romney has appeared at Restore Our Future events to deliver his message of belief in America, prosperity by free enterprise, and undoing the failed policies of President Obama which have caused millions of jobs to be lost, forced record numbers of Americans into foreclosure and bankruptcy, and ruined our economy. Despite the recent FEC ruling allowing candidate solicitation, at no time has Mitt Romney solicited funds for Restore Our Future.

Even if he’s not actually asking for money, Romney’s presence at events for Restore Our Future is a clear signal that the group has his blessing, much as Priorities USA – the Bill Burton-led Democratic super PAC – is an all but officially sanctioned extension of the Obama campaign. And while organizations like these may be technically independent of the candidates they’re supporting, the line is getting blurrier.